Finally going for a projector! Now need expert help :)

[N. Abstentia]

Finally getting the green light for my theater room (in the form of a payoff check for my plant shutting down!) and I'm going to finally go with a projector which I've wanted to do for over 10 years. I'll finally have a place to install one!

So now I need expert opinions on the projector and screen. The biggest thing of course is budget. Most of my money is going towards the room construction itself so the projector will have to be 'on the cheap' but I'd still rather buy a $1200 projector over a $2500 65" rear projection.

Right now (just from reading) it looks like the InFocus 4805 is the projector to beat for the price. At $1000, it seems it's going to take a $3000 for a maginal improvement. Any thoughts?

How important is lumens? I see the InFocus is around 750 max. As a reference, where I used to work (the place that SHUT DOWN) I installed a ViewSonic 551 in our main conference room that was 1500 lumens. I was quite pleased with it's performance and it was just showing on an off white wall with a good bit of ambient light coming in. However it was not DLP like the InFocus. Should I be concerned with low lumens?

Lastly..for now...the screen. I like the idea of screen paint but it's more expensive than I thought. Just looking around quickly looks like about $300 for screen paint, which I've seen actual screens at that price point. Which is better, keeping in mind that it will be permanently mounted?

I'll think of more later

[ericl]

Heya

I've been looking at "inexpensive" projectors too.. trying to decide between that and an LCD TV. Also take a look at Optoma's H31:

http://www.audioholics.com/productre...torReview1.php

I think you can get both the Infocus and the Optoma as well as screens at Costco, which has a lifetime return policy (although I don't see infocus on their site):

http://www.costco.com/Common/Categor...th=79*&Browse=

-Eric

[Geoffcin]

Finally getting the green light for my theater room (in the form of a payoff check for my plant shutting down!) and I'm going to finally go with a projector which I've wanted to do for over 10 years. I'll finally have a place to install one!

I was seriously considering a projector for my HT, but as I don't have total light control in the HT room, I canceled the idea. A fully light controlled room is a must, any light leakage will seriously degrade the image.

My first choice would be the Panasonic PT-AE700u. With it's 2x zoom, and lens shift, plus forward exaust, it easily mounts on a back wall.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/panasonic_ae700.htm

There's a lot of good info at projectorcentral.com.

Good luck!

[N. Abstentia]

Thanks guys, I've got some reading to do. I do like that Optoma, I'll have to check into it. I've never run across them before. The Panasonic might be out of my price range, and mounting on a rear wall is not a concern. My room will be 18'x30' so I actually have the luxury of it maybe being too big

I also need to do some figuring out to see where the best placement will be. Throw distance may become a factor.

Generally, would I want the projector as close as possible to the sceen to maximize picture quality? With a 30' room length, that could put the projector in front of the seating position...is that distracting?

[popolz]

If your image is big and you`re close you`ll see some "screen door effect". If you`re sitting a little far it wont be a problem.

I have a 106" 16:9 image and I'm sitting @11' from the screen... I see some screen door but it's not too bad.

My BenQ PB 6110 does leak some light through the fans and it would be annoying if it was in front of me. I don't know if the optoma will do the same... maybe with a ceiling mount it wouldn't be too bad.

[Geoffcin]

Generally, would I want the projector as close as possible to the sceen to maximize picture quality? With a 30' room length, that could put the projector in front of the seating position...is that distracting?

This type of mounting has some other considerations too, but you really dont want to be tripping over wiring which can happen with a table mount .

The Optima H31 is a "giant killer" but it's main fault is that it doesn't do full 720p HD, something that your going to want, especially with all the new HD software that will be coming online in the next year or so. Optima makes some of the best HT projectors in the business, if I had my way this would be the one I get;

http://www.projectorcentral.com/optoma_h79.htm

[N. Abstentia]

Jeez I forgot to mention, this will definitely be a ceiling mounted projector.

I've been using this caluclator here a lot lately:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Opto...ulator-pro.htm

It's cool to see the what the actual screen size would be and how far the projector should be mounted.

I think I'm going to be good. I'm laying out my 2 channel sound first which is actually priority, and it looks like I'll be sitting about 14' from the screen, so for example mounting that Optima projector 17' from the screen will optimize at a 117" 16:9 screen. That calulator is kewwl

[N. Abstentia]

Geoffcin, what do you mean about the projector not doing 720p? Explain it to me like I'm stupid, as I'm still stuck in 4:3 world. I mean I know it's 720 lines of progressive resolution, but what do you mean when you say it doesn't fully do it? I need to know because all I'm looking at is the spec sheet which says:

Compatibility: HDTV:
1080i, 720p, 576p
576i

Which I would take to mean it does do 720p, so what should I be looking for?